body odor

Study suggests chemicals in body odor can affect others

(Newser) -
Scientists think they've figured out a way for people to feel happier, but applying it in real life might be a little weird: It involves getting a whiff of a happy person's armpits. It seems that we humans secrete chemicals in sweat that reflect our emotional states, and...
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Certain bacteria appear to be key to body odor

(Newser) -
Bad BO? It's not your fault: Scientists have identified the bacteria you should blame. The smell of your armpits is a result of a clash between sweat and bacteria that creates what NPR calls "the mothership of body odor." Odorless molecules in your sweat are "broken...
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Taxi drivers take issue with 'dehumanizing' practice at airport

(Newser) -
Body odor is among 52 criteria that officials at San Diego International Airport use to judge taxi drivers. Cabbies say that smacks of prejudice and discrimination. For years, inspectors with the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority have run down their checklist for each cabbie—proof of insurance, functioning windshield...
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Turns out Bacteria is to blame for our smelly parts

(Newser) -
Stuck in this week's brutal heat wave? You may be surprised to learn that sweat doesn't actually smell—and NPR has posted a video from the chemistry podcast Distillations to explain why. Turns out that there are two types of sweat glands, eccrine and apocrine; the former covers...
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Seniors have a distinctive odor, and it's not so bad: Study

(Newser) -
Old people do indeed have a distinctive odor, say scientists, but it's a lot better than reputation and bad jokes would suggest. A study involving the unenviable task of sniffing underarm pads found that those aged 75 to 95 gave off a scent more pleasant and less intense than...
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Our ability to judge personality is nothing to sniff at

(Newser) -
You are what you reek? It turns out that we can tell a lot about someone's personality just by their smell, according to the New York Daily News . Sixty people in Poland wore the same T-shirt for three nights, and did not use soap, smoke, drink, or "eat...
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'Brutal' body odor overwhelms Air Canada passengers

(Newser) -
A too-smelly-to-fly controversy has followed hot on the heels of Kevin Smith's too-fat-to-fly kerfuffle. A passenger was escorted off an Air Canada regional flight this week after passengers complained about his overwhelming body odor. "People were just mumbling and staring at him,” one passenger told the Prince Edward...
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City delays vote barring smelly people from riding public transit

(Newser) -
Honolulu's city council has delayed voting on a measure to bar stinky people from public transit, reports the Advertiser. The ordinance would crack down on people with “odors that unreasonably disturb others or interfere with their use of the transit system.” Part of the reason for the delay...
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Homeless advocates get into lather over hygiene policies

(Newser) -
Even if you haven’t been to a public library in a while you probably know the major rules: no shouting, no running, no food or drink near the books. But a rash of complaints from patrons have driven some Chicago-area libraries to institute a new prohibition: no offensive body...
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Find an animal that smells like tomato and voila—pizza!

(Newser) -
Working out at the gym may stimulate your appetite—or maybe it's the enticing scent of the person next to you. Sweaty men smell of cheese, and sweaty women smell like onion or grapefruit, New Scientist reports. Body chemistry accounts for the difference, say Swiss researchers who based their conclusions...
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Smelly man wants an apology

(Newser) -
A gambler deemed too smelly to play is demanding an apology from New Jersey’s Borgata casino, Fox Philadelphia reports. Michael Wax, 54, had spent 17 hours gambling in the casino when an official approached him and said he had to leave because other patrons were complaining of his body...
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Body odor perceived differently based on genetics, study shows

(Newser) -
Good news for men with a nasty smell wafting under their arms: Scientists can prove why it's not so bad to everyone. A report published in Nature says that male sweat can invoke scents from urine to vanilla, thanks to tiny differences in a single receptor gene. How it reacts...
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